N AT I O N A L I N Q U I R Y R E P O R T ZIMBABWE HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION For Human Dignity Analysis of Findings The National Inquiry findings are analysed in Chapter Six. The analysis includes the assessment of laws, policies and institutions including mandates and processes. It revealed that there were gaps and inconsistencies in legislation that pose barriers to documentation which include the following; Administrative practices which affected access to documentation by Government Ministries and Departments with a mandate on documentation such as; Ministry of Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage, Department of Registrar General, Immigration Department, Ministry of Health and Child Care, Department of Social Welfare and the Zimbabwe Republic Police among others. Administrative practices by these institutions proved to be fundamental in terms of people being able to access documents. These included but were not limited to the following;           Lack of a national policy on documentation. Lack of adequate decentralisation of DRG services. District and sub offices not adequately resourced and providing limited and manual registration services. Shortage of consumables e.g. ink, passport paper and equipment such as computers, printers, vehicles. Inadequate human resources. Delays in verification process of fingerprints required for registration. Use of Standard Operating Procedures that are not adopted by the DRG leading to inconsistencies in application of processing documentation (Draft DRG Procedure Manual, Births and Deaths). Lack of enforcement of the policy deterring health institutions from withholding birth confirmation records for lack of payment of hospital bills Lack of coordination on documentation issues among Government Ministries and Departments. No national statistics on documentation. The analysis noted root causes and factors which hindered documentation including but were not limited to the following;        Generational non-documentation. Poverty. Migration of parents leaving unregistered children in the custody of relatives and friends. Corruption. Rigidity in application of laws governing registration. Cultural and religious beliefs. Breakdown of the traditional family unit and people’s attitudes towards registration. Some laws and policies which hinder documentation were identified, for instance the provision of the Citizenship Act which prohibits dual citizenship was found to be inconsistent with the Constitution of Zimbabwe. Similarly, the Births and Deaths Registration Act was found to have discriminatory provisions, for instance distinguishing children born out of wedlock and Section 12 in particular, which does not allow fathers to register their children in the absence of a mother or maternal relative where children are born out of wedlock. Furthermore, the DRG was using draft Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), as guidelines in issuing documents. Some of these instructions were not in conformity with legislation, thereby restricting access to documentation. There were knowledge gaps, attitude problems and practices which both duty bearers and citizens had towards documentation which also impacted on access to documentation and the enjoyment of human rights and freedoms. These included the following;      Lack of knowledge on registration requirements which can be attributed to non-availability of information on the law and other information necessary for registration Lack of legal awareness and empowerment among citizens which is a critical aspect for national documentation to be effective. Lack of knowledge and awareness among the public of positive changes in the law and policies such as Section 43(2) (a), which provides for citizenship of a person by birth, if one or both of his or her parents was a citizen of a SADC Country, as such people who could have benefited from such a provision remained unregistered Illiteracy and lack of access to information on registration contributes significantly to nondocumentation. A number of undesirable practices which members of the public have resorted to in order to ease the process of accessing documentation. For example, giving bribes in order to facilitate or expedite the process of acquiring documents and falsifying information to counter inability to meet the requirements for accessing documentation. xviii xvii